K3 and MARS
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Is anyone using the K3 for MARS work?
If so, can you contact me off-list to provide more info? I'm interested in getting involved with MARS. But the application simply asks if you're able to transmit/receive on MARS frequencies without specifying what those frequencies are. So, I'd like to know what frequencies I need to worry about and what, if any, modifications are needed to the K3 to make it able to participate in MARS work. Thanks in advance. 73, Michael - K5MEF _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Michael,
MARS requires us to not disclose the frequencies we use or their designators, but I do use my K3 on MARS frequencies quite successfully. There is one modification required, and some self imposed limitations. The modification is accomplished by running a program Elecraft can provide; it is easily revered should you choose to by using the same program. The frequency allocations differ a bit bit associated service (Army MARS, Navy Marine Corps MARS, Air Force Mars), but each one will tell you theirs on admission. So, don't worry, your K3 will work very will on the MARS frequencies and digital modes they use (with the right sound card software, etc.). Good luck! 73 de Dave, W5SV / NNN0SLA Michael Fox (K5MEF) wrote: > Is anyone using the K3 for MARS work? > > If so, can you contact me off-list to provide more info? > > I'm interested in getting involved with MARS. But the application simply > asks if you're able to transmit/receive on MARS frequencies without > specifying what those frequencies are. So, I'd like to know what > frequencies I need to worry about and what, if any, modifications are needed > to the K3 to make it able to participate in MARS work. > > Thanks in advance. > > 73, > Michael - K5MEF > > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Make that "easily reversed"...
--Dave David F. Reed wrote: > Michael, > > MARS requires us to not disclose the frequencies we use or their > designators, but I do use my K3 on MARS frequencies quite successfully. > > There is one modification required, and some self imposed limitations. > > The modification is accomplished by running a program Elecraft can > provide; it is easily _revered_ should you choose to by using the same > program. > > The frequency allocations differ a bit bit associated service (Army > MARS, Navy Marine Corps MARS, Air Force Mars), but each one will tell > you theirs on admission. > > So, don't worry, your K3 will work very will on the MARS frequencies > and digital modes they use (with the right sound card software, etc.). > > Good luck! > > 73 de Dave, W5SV / NNN0SLA > > Michael Fox (K5MEF) wrote: >> Is anyone using the K3 for MARS work? >> >> If so, can you contact me off-list to provide more info? >> >> I'm interested in getting involved with MARS. But the application >> simply >> asks if you're able to transmit/receive on MARS frequencies without >> specifying what those frequencies are. So, I'd like to know what >> frequencies I need to worry about and what, if any, modifications are >> needed >> to the K3 to make it able to participate in MARS work. >> >> Thanks in advance. >> >> 73, >> Michael - K5MEF >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Post to: [hidden email] >> You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): >> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com >> > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Michael Fox (K5MEF)
All you have to do in order to get your radio opened up is send
Elecraft your callsign and your serial and request the program to open up the radio. On Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 7:06 PM, -.-. --.-N3TU -.-. --.- <[hidden email]> wrote: > > As a Mars member, I can't disclose the frequencies but you can get that > through your state MARS director. You can google your state and MARS and go > to the web page to get contact information. Tell your MARS director before > you fill out the application that your K3 can be modified for MARS and that > you can't modify the radio until you get your MARS call sign and credentials > to send to Elecraft. In the mean time, you can be studying the MARS manual. > I am sure your MARS director will have a better understanding of whats going > on and he will instruct what to put in the application regarding if your > radio is opened for MARS. See you on the bands. > > > > Michael Fox (K5MEF) wrote: >> >> Is anyone using the K3 for MARS work? >> >> If so, can you contact me off-list to provide more info? >> >> I'm interested in getting involved with MARS. But the application simply >> asks if you're able to transmit/receive on MARS frequencies without >> specifying what those frequencies are. So, I'd like to know what >> frequencies I need to worry about and what, if any, modifications are >> needed >> to the K3 to make it able to participate in MARS work. >> >> Thanks in advance. >> >> 73, >> Michael - K5MEF >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Post to: [hidden email] >> You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): >> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com >> >> > > -- > View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3-and-MARS-tp1112741p1127825.html > Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Michael Fox (K5MEF)
It seems ... to me anyway ... that attempting to keep MARS
frequencies "secret" is terribly silly! Do the MARS "leaders" actually think they aren't / can't be heard by anyone who wants to listen??!! What's the rationale? Am I missing something? 73! Ken Kopp - K0PP _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Michael Fox (K5MEF)
The frequencies are not all that secret. Here are quite a few they
announced for Armed Forces Day this year: http://www.netcom.army.mil/MARS/docs/ARMEDFORCESDAYFinal.pdf I'll bet a little internet searching will yield more. They are close to the ham bands. 73, Bob K2TK -.-. --.-N3TU -.-. --.- wrote: >As a Mars member, I can't disclose the frequencies but you can get that >through your state MARS director. You can google your state and MARS and go >to the web page to get contact information. Tell your MARS director before >you fill out the application that your K3 can be modified for MARS and that >you can't modify the radio until you get your MARS call sign and credentials >to send to Elecraft. In the mean time, you can be studying the MARS manual. >I am sure your MARS director will have a better understanding of whats going >on and he will instruct what to put in the application regarding if your >radio is opened for MARS. See you on the bands. > > > >Michael Fox (K5MEF) wrote: > > >>Is anyone using the K3 for MARS work? >> >>If so, can you contact me off-list to provide more info? >> >>I'm interested in getting involved with MARS. But the application simply >>asks if you're able to transmit/receive on MARS frequencies without >>specifying what those frequencies are. So, I'd like to know what >>frequencies I need to worry about and what, if any, modifications are >>needed >>to the K3 to make it able to participate in MARS work. >> >>Thanks in advance. >> >>73, >>Michael - K5MEF >> >> >> > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Michael Fox (K5MEF)
The K3 requires a firmware mod that Elecraft will give you upon request and
verification. [OT] HF MARS frequencies are many and distributed from 2 mHz to 28 mHz. This makes dynamically moving the net to the critical frequency possible. So you must be frequency agile. When I applied to MARS I told them I had a K2 and they said NG. Although the K2 can hit a few MARS frequencies near the amateur band edges you need a radio that can be used on all the frequencies. The bandpass filters in the K2 are simply too good, and performance several hundred kHz away from the amateur band edges is not good enough. You will also need to get your antenna hardware working on all those MARS frequencies. AN 80M dipole with 450 Ohm ladder line and a really good balanced line tuner works well. The IC706, TS480, and FT857 are popular radios for MARS. Remember that you don't have hams on either side of your signal blanking out your receiver with MARS channels so these radios work fine. The K3 works superbly as a MARS radio. MARS has many advantages. Unlike ARES and RACES there is a requirement for heavy training and certification (at least in Texas). The assumption is that merely having a ham license is not enough to actually be of any value during an emergency. Also you can transmit digital at the center of the voice frequencies making mixed mode nets very efficient. I am simply amazed of all that I have learned about EMCOMM since joining MARS a few months ago. To apply for Army MARS go to: <http://www.netcom.army.mil/mars/join.aspx> Sorry for the blurb on MARS, but the K3 is a very nice MARS radio. And because of the mass destruction from Hurricane Dolly and Ike down here in Texas more hams need to join MARS. 73, Steve, W2MY, AAR6CX PS: There is also Navy/Marine and Air Force MARS _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Ken Kopp-3
Ken Kopp wrote:
> It seems > ... to me anyway ... that attempting to keep MARS > frequencies "secret" is terribly silly! Do the MARS "leaders" > actually think they aren't / can't be heard by anyone who wants > to listen??!! What's the rationale? > Am I missing something? > Probably not :-) US Military frequencies themselves aren't really a secret, they just aren't typically publicized all that much. Been that way since I was in uniform in the 60's-70's and probably long before that. Far more important in terms of secrecy is linking a frequency to an operational unit and/or location. You can't stop someone from intercepting an unencrypted radio transmission, but you sure don't want to tell him who is using it, where, and for what. It is also common for frequencies to have some designator [e.g. "Charlie One"] for on-the-air QSY requirements rather than stating the actual frequency in the clear. Obviously, with some heavy sleuthing one could discover the connection between a designator and a frequency. Some military/MARS frequencies do get publicized in the announcements for the annual Armed Forces Day cross-band operations. I'm not sure if it is a custom firmware download from Elecraft or some other mechanism from them, but I do know that your K3 can be made to operate on MARS frequencies outside the ham bands if you are authorized to be there. Hoping to work a LOT of Elecrafters in the Cal QSO Party this weekend. I'll be working CW shifts at N6A for Alpine County. If you need Alpine for anything, we're your QSO, at last check there still aren't any active hams in the county. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2008 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 08 - www.cqp.org _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: OT: MARS frequencies, etc.
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In reply to this post by Ken Kopp-3
Ken Kopp wrote:
> It seems ... to me anyway ... that attempting to keep MARS > frequencies "secret" is terribly silly! Do the MARS "leaders" > actually think they aren't / can't be heard by anyone who wants to > listen??!! What's the rationale? Am I missing something? > I suspect this is more about instilling proper military security procedure, rather than about really keeping them secret. Incidentally, unless you know the frequencies, you will not know what additional filtering you need. Even though you can open up the K3 for all but CB frequencies, I doubt that the K3 meets its spectral purity specifications much outside the ham bands, so one would need to measure the purity on the actual operating frequencies and, possibly, add extra filtering. > > </div> -- David Woolley Emails are not formal business letters, whatever businesses may want. RFC1855 says there should be an address here, but, in a world of spam, that is no longer good advice, as archive address hiding may not work. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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